Does This Video Show Afghan Cops Killing UN Guard?

Back in October, five United Nations employees were killed during a Taliban raid on their compound in Kabul. Now, Germany’s Stern has obtained video of the incident that seems to suggest that Afghan police deliberately shot and killed Louis Maxwell, an American citizen who was working as a UN security guard — and who saved the lives of several of his colleagues during the shootout.

A statement issued yesterday by the press secretary for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that Maxwell “may have been killed by Afghan security forces who may have mistaken him for an insurgent.” Maxwell, a close-protection specialist, “died protecting his United Nations colleagues, many of whom are alive today because of his heroic actions,” the statement added.

The statement –based on the results of a UN inquiry that has not been made public — also left open the possibility that three other UN staffers may have been killed by friendly fire.

But not everyone is persuaded by the UN’s account. Stern has obtained video, embedded here, that appears to show Maxwell being shot. According to Stern‘s interpretation of the video, Maxwell, who had been wounded in the firefight defending his charges, can be seen pulling himself up by the hood of a Humvee, and standing among a group of Afghan police. He is then felled by a single shot (or a series of shots: the grainy, shaky video image is hard to interpret). An Afghan police officer is seen carrying Maxwell’s weapon — a Heckler and Koch G36, a relatively unusual weapon for Afghanistan — and walking off with it.

Among security contractors, the incident has sparked outrage. “Someone please make sense of all of this, because this smells,” writes Matt at Feral Jundi. Danger Room pal Tim Lynch, writing from Afghanistan, is also skeptical. The G36, he notes, “is worth a fortune here.”

The UN’s response has not been particularly helpful in clearing things up. The four-member Board of Inquiry set up late last year to investigate the incident has not publicly released its findings. “The relevant findings of the report have been shared with the Afghan authorities and other relevant stakeholders have also been informed,” said the UN in its bland prepared statement. In other words, the public — and probably Maxwell’s family — aren’t entitled to read it. Hello UN, transparency?

However, the UN is following through with some additional steps. According to the UN statement, Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security Gregory Starr is supposed to lead a team to Kabul next week to discuss the investigation with Afghan authorities.